Posted: 9/29/2012 11:39:56 PM EDT
On my recent trip through southern Colorado, I fell victim to a roadside vendor and ended up with two bundles of Hatch chilies:
Now I know next to nothing about these things except that they're an essential ingredient in that Arfcom favorite, chili. How do I process these into usable ingredients? I think the little ones get de-seeded and then chopped into tiny bits (I could easily be incorrect here) but I'm at a loss as to how to deal with the large red ones. And what's the starting dose per pound of beef? Thanks for your help. |
|
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. |
|
Quoted:
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. Ding ding ding! Winner! What you have there are best used as wall decor...(which you seem to have going already  )
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. Ding ding ding! Winner! What you have there are best used as wall decor...(which you seem to have going already )ohh so wrong. what you have is the key ingrediment to some wicked chile caribe. i've been up for about 20 hours already so it may be a day or two from now, but i'll try to dig up & post some of the recipes i've developed & refined over the last few decades. chile, both red & green, is my passion. truth be told, from the same crop the red will have a much more nuanced flavor. doesn't stop me from having 100+ quart bags of hatch green in my freezer right now though 
|
|
Quoted:
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. I always skin them whenever I thaw them for cooking. I think they lose some flavor if they're skinned before freezing. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. I always skin them whenever I thaw them for cooking. I think they lose some flavor if they're skinned before freezing. same here my friend, plus you distribute the work out. i've peeled & seeded two sacks at a shot before, but that was because i was drying them per my ex-wife's grandmother's method. fuckin' hunchback i was afterwards, and i did that for three weeks in a row! garage smelled awesome for the next couple of months though. |
|
Quoted: I guess I'll just use them as decoration for the kitchen. That was my original intent, but thought I might justify the purchase a little with some chili or something. Thanks for all your comments, Rob Heck - you *can* reconstitute the chilies to some degree. I just don't have any experience with doing that. Usually, reconstituted chilies are only used for purees. Hatch chilies are also used when they're green, and I *think* they're over-ripe when they turn red and aren't usually sold that way. If you have green ones, you can probably make a killer verde sauce out of them though. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I guess I'll just use them as decoration for the kitchen. That was my original intent, but thought I might justify the purchase a little with some chili or something. Thanks for all your comments, Rob Heck - you *can* reconstitute the chilies to some degree. I just don't have any experience with doing that. Usually, reconstituted chilies are only used for purees. Hatch chilies are also used when they're green, and I *think* they're over-ripe when they turn red and aren't usually sold that way. If you have green ones, you can probably make a killer verde sauce out of them though. Hell yes they're sold that way. Red or green is the question in NM. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hell yes they're sold that way. Red or green is the question in NM. Tell me more; I've only ever seen them green. What's the story behind the red/green debate? It depends on the place. Some make the red child sauce with fresh red chile, but others make it with the crushed pods made into a sauce. You order enchiladas, rellenos, tamales, etc here, the next question is "Red or green?" meaning the kind of sauce you want on it. Though, the chiles use is not limited to that… |
|
Quoted:
What difference is there in flavor? I assume the red chilies have simply ripened longer before being picked; why is it that Hatch chilies are typically sold only green? The red chile has a fuller flavor profile, but isn't nearly as hot. It almost like two different things. Some stuff goes better with red chiles, but I personally like green generally. On burgers especially. I suppose for something like spaghetti sauce or something with a lot of tomato red works better for some reason. |
|
Quoted:
I guess I'll just use them as decoration for the kitchen. That was my original intent, but thought I might justify the purchase a little with some chili or something. Thanks for all your comments, Rob Grab about five of those big red ones, break the stem end off and de-seed. Then soak in water for about 15mn. Grab a lb of cut up pork and brown in a large skillet with chopped onion. Then blend the rehydrated peppers, with the water and then pour over the pork. Add salt, garlic Cummin to taste and simmer until the pork is nice and tender. Add spanish rice on the side and maybe some refried beans and you have a meal fit for a king! 
|
I can't edit for shit!
|
Quoted: Quoted: What difference is there in flavor? I assume the red chilies have simply ripened longer before being picked; why is it that Hatch chilies are typically sold only green? The red chile has a fuller flavor profile, but isn't nearly as hot. It almost like two different things. Some stuff goes better with red chiles, but I personally like green generally. On burgers especially. I suppose for something like spaghetti sauce or something with a lot of tomato red works better for some reason. Yeah - that makes sense. I like mixing chopped hatch chilies with ground meat when making burgers as well. That's just an awesome way to eat a burger. |
|
I dice dried chiles up, they are usually still kind of moist and pliable, and heat them in a cast iron skillet to dry them out and liberate the volatile oils. Then I grind them in a coffee grinder, and then I rehydrate them with beef broth, pimenton, garlic powder, etc and masa to make a chile paste for chili. |
|
I orefer green to red. A good friend moved from NM and found some fresh Hatch Green at a store. He mentioned it to a friend and he said he "loved the Bacon of the Vegetable world". Now I call it Vege Bacon. It is some good stuff. I need to buy a deep freeze so i can stock up on it next year.
MAHA |
|
Place desired amount of de-stemmed chiles in a glass blender. Add boiling water and let steep for about 10-15 minutes. Pulverize the living shit out of them. Make an aioli or add vinegar to make a hot sauce. I use guajilo for this. I agree that Hatch peppers are better fresh or fresh-roasted. 
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I don't use hatch chilies in my chili - well a few actually. Hatch chilies are best fresh. I usually buy 25 pound batches where they roast them for you. Scrape off the skin and de-seed them, then I freeze them in one pound batches. They are great for stews, enchiladas, you name it. I always skin them whenever I thaw them for cooking. I think they lose some flavor if they're skinned before freezing. I roast and skin, but never rinse them. This makes them easy to pull out of the freezer and use without much prep and by not rinsing them they retain that smoky deliciousness. I could put a green chili on damn near anything.... YUM! |